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War of Honor
War of Honor is the tenth book of David Weber's series of novels and short stories chronicling the adventures of Honor Harrington. It was first published in 2002. Timeframe: 1918 PD – 1920 PD Cover Summary :No one wanted another war :Thomas Theisman didn't. After risking his life and a fresh round of civil war to overthrow the Committee of Public Safety's reign of terror and restore the Republic of Haven's ancient Constitution, an interstellar war was the last thing he wanted. :Baron High Ridge didn't. The Prime Minister of Manticore was perfectly happy with the war he had. No one was shooting anyone else at the moment, and as long as he could spin out negotiations on the formal treaty of peace, his government could continue to milk all those "hostilities only" tax measures for their own partisan projects. :His Imperial Majesty Gustav didn't. Now that the fighting between the Star Kingdom and the Havenites had ended, the Andermani Emperor had his own plans for Silesia, and he was confident he could achieve them without a war of his own. :Protector Benjamin didn't. His people had made too deep a commitment to the Manticoran Alliance, in blood as well as treasure, for him to want to risk seeing it all thrown away. :And Honor Harrington certainly didn't. The "Salamander" had seen the inside of too many furnaces already, knew too much about how much war cost. :Unfortunately, what they wanted didn't matter.... Plot Five years have passed since a truce between the Star Kingdom of Manticore and the Republic of Haven ended the First Havenite-Manticoran War, but there is still no formal peace treaty. Even though neither side wishes to resume fighting, political circumstances in both nations threaten to plunge them back into war. On Manticore, the administration of Prime Minister High Ridge focuses on strengthening its own political position. The Royal Manticoran Navy's budget has been cut down to satisfy the new government's welfare projects and political finance schemes. Manticore's allies, most notably Grayson and Erewhon, are infuriated with the new government's carelessness and outright rudeness in foreign affairs. From their seats in the House of Lords, Honor Harrington and Hamish Alexander voice their opposition to the policies of the High Ridge government, which in turn takes action to discredit the war heroes. Haven struggles to rebuild after the fall of the People's Republic. President Eloise Pritchart's administration faces increasing pressure from certain political factions that demand the Republic to be more assertive in its negotiations with Manticore. Admiral Thomas Theisman has to restore the Havenite Navy's morale and fighting capabilities after the long war with Manticore and a protracted campaign to conquer the remnants of the old People's Republic. The Anderman Empire has adopted a confrontational stance with Manticore over the chaos-ridden Silesian Confederacy, and Honor Harrington is sent to the planet Sidemore in the Marsh System, located near Silesian space, with a task force. She is so ordered at the behest of the RMN's new admiralty in order to get her out of the political arena. Due to tensions along their borders, the risk of war between Manticore and the Empire is steadily rising. Tensions also rise between Haven and Manticore. A new terminus of the Manticore Wormhole Junction has been discovered, and several worlds located near the exit point request annexation by Manticore, triggering fears amongst the Havenites that the Star Kingdom is going to go on an expansionist rampage. The Manticoran government's ineptness and the schemes of Havenite Secretary of State Arnold Giancola compound an already unstable scenario, and President Pritchart eventually orders the Republican Navy to launch Operation Thunderbolt, the resumption of combat operations against Manticore and re-taking of the systems lost in the previous war. The Second Havenite-Manticoran War breaks out. In a series of coordinated attacks the Havenites succeed in conquering every system the Manticorans took out from them (except for Trevor's Star, which is recognized as a part of the Star Kingdom) and in devastating a critical Manticoran shipyard. Even Honor's fleet is attacked, despite the long distance between Haven and Sidemore, but she succeeds in defeating the Havenite forces. The High Ridge government falls and First Lord of the Admiralty Edward Janacek commits suicide. A new government led by William Alexander, the younger brother of Admiral White Haven, takes over. However, this new war is completely different from the last one: now Haven is almost the technological equal of Manticore, and its fleet of modern warships is many times larger than the Royal Manticoran Navy. Erewhon breaks away from the Alliance and sides with Haven, handing them many of their latest technological developments. The Havenites have the initiative and the Star Kingdom is shocked, meaning that Haven may be able to win. However, Emperor Gustav XI decides to bring the Anderman Empire into the war on the Manticoran side, changing the odds once more. But even if Manticore does win, Honor realizes, they may become like their enemies in the process. References Characters Joyce Akimoto | Hamish Alexander | William Alexander | Thomas Bachfisch | Mercedes Brigham | Broadhurst | Sylvester Callahan | Sybil Dalipagic | deCastries | Molly DeLaney | Sebastian D'Orville | Queen Elizabeth III | Binyan Engelman | Evans | Erica Ferrero | Huang Glockauer | Emperor Gustav XI | Casey Hall | Allison Chou Harrington | Honor Harrington | Shawn Harris | Haynesworth | Sonja Hemphill | Ruihan Hoffner | Zhenting Isenhoffer | M. Johannsen | James MacGuiness | Jeff Marston | Mecia McKee | Nazari | Nimitz | Merlin Odom | Clarence Oglesby | Susan Phillips | Eloise Pritchart | Rontved | Elijah Sennett | Stephen Stahler | Ernest Talbot | William Tatnall | Tharwan | Thomas Theisman | Lester Tourville | Jack Vojonovic | James Webster | Samuel Webster | Shilan Weiss | Alfredo Yu | Zelazney | Anton Zilwicki | Helen Zilwicki | Starships * Ambuscade * [[GSNS Ararat (CLAC)|GSNS Ararat]] * [[HMS Ephraim Tudor|HMS Ephraim Tudor]] * [[IANS Gangying|IANS Gangying]] * [[RHNS Hecate|RHNS Hecate]] * [[RHNS Hector|RHNS Hector]] * [[HMS Jessica Epps|HMS Jessica Epps]] * [[AMS Karawane|AMS Karawane]] * [[HMS Mephisto|HMS Mephisto]] * Pirates' Bane * [[HMS Royalist|HMS Royalist]] * [[AMS Sittich|AMS Sittich]] * Starlight * [[IANS Todfeind|IANS Todfeind]] * [[HMS Werewolf|HMS Werewolf]] Stations *Sidemore Station Planets *Enki *Grayson *Haven *Manticore *Sidemore Nations *Anderman Empire *Republic of Haven *Republic of Sidemore *Silesian Confederacy *Star Kingdom of Manticore Other Act of Annexation | Alice in Wonderland | Classified Information Act | Crawford System | Franconia System | Gryphon water silk | Harston System | Melbourne System | Preston of the Spaceways | pseudocroc | Republic of Haven Navy | Royal Manticoran Marine Corps | Royal Manticoran Navy | Runciman System | Second Fleet (Haven) | State Security Naval Forces | Sword Intelligence | Operation Wilberforce External links * [http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com/01-HonorverseCD/HonorverseCD/War%20of%20Honor/index.htm War of Honor] in the Baen Free Library * ''War of Honor'' on Wikipedia Category:Honorverse material